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Works Thomas Girtin

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal: Pencil Study for Plate Six of Picturesque Views in Paris

1802

Primary Image: TG1870: Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal: Pencil Study for Plate Six of 'Picturesque Views in Paris', 1802, graphite on paper, 18.5 × 26.5 cm, 7 ¼ × 10 ½ in. Private Collection.

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's (All Rights Reserved)

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Title
  • The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal: Pencil Study for Plate Six of Picturesque Views in Paris
Date
1802
Medium and Support
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
18.5 × 26.5 cm, 7 ¼ × 10 ½ in
Object Type
Outline Drawing
Subject Terms
City Life and Labour; Paris and Environs; River Scenery

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG1870
Description Source(s)
Auction Catalogue

Provenance

Sotheby’s, 20 November 1963, lot 12 as 'The Louvre from the river'; bought by 'Waters', £18

About this Work

This pencil study shows the left-hand third of the view of the Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal that Girtin used as the basis for plate six of his Picturesque Views in Paris (TG1871). The artist appears to have moved forward from his original position on the Pont de la Concorde in order to get a more detailed view of the Tuileries Palace and of some of the boats on the river in front of the Pont Royal, and the sheet is actually larger than the drawing that was traced to create the soft-ground etching (see print after TG1871). Girtin may have made other close-up studies to supplement the drawings, which he probably created using a camera obscura, and, as in this case, they were presumably created freehand, with a noticeably softer line and a more fluid technique. 

The Pont Royal in Paris, with Notre Dame in the Distance

Another view of the Pont Royal, in the collection of the British Museum, has been attributed to Girtin in the past (see figure 1), though the authorship of the work is questioned in the Girtin Archive (40A) where it is noted as being an anonymous copy, possibly after a watercolour by William Marlow (1740–1813) that is now in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.35–1948). This is more likely than the suggestion that has been given on the website of the British Museum, which gives the drawing to Joseph Farington (1747–1821), following the opinion of the late Dudley Snelgrove (1906–92) (1863,0110.251). Given that the work previously attributed to Girtin came from the collection of John Henderson (1764–1843), if the view of the Pont Royal is not by Marlow, then perhaps an attribution to Girtin’s early patron might be the best option. 

1802

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont de la Concorde: Pencil Study for Plate Six of ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’

TG1871

1802

The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Pont de la Concorde: Pencil Study for Plate Six of ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’

TG1871

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

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